Spanish government accused of corrupting minors with explicit website

An ethics group filed a lawsuit against outgoing president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero over content on the Ministry of Education’s website that promotes homosexuality and sexual activity at a young age.

Jaime Urcelay, president of Professionals for Ethics, said on Nov. 17 that the complaint is based on a resource posted online titled “Sexpresan” (which translates to “Sexpress Yourself”) and is recommended to students aged 12 to 16.

The lawsuit, which is aimed at the president as well as the Minister of Education, Angel Gabilondo, has garnered support from over 200 parents who have strongly criticized the “games” included in the website material.

Activities such as “My pleasure map” and “My first time” show children how to use a condom and how to “define your own way of being a man or a woman, overcoming the traditional models that have been imposed on us.”

Professionals for Ethics also condemned the website for proposing abortion as the only solution for unwanted pregnancies and took issue with the site being listed as a resource for the government sponsored course “Education for the Citizenry.”

The organization based its lawsuit on an article of the Spanish Penal Code, charging that the content promoted by the government endangers the development of children “with ideological positions that do not enjoy a social or scientific consensus and that are incompatible with the State’s obligation to remain neutral.”